September 21, 2003
Just because it's virtual doesn't mean it's not a world
It's this kind of thing that really interests me about the Internet. The link goes to a Slashdot article about taxation in virtual worlds and the politics this creates. The article also links to this essay on an actual tax revolt happening inside the game "Second Life". Other, similar events have happened before: the "Naked Riot of 1997" in "Ultima Online" and the Metaphysicist protest a few years ago in "Anarchy Online" come to mind.
Here we've literally created entire worlds out of the void. And what do we find? That exactly the same problems we face in this world apply to the ones we make. If scarcity isn't a problem, then inflation is, and economies are devilishly hard things to balance. If freedom isn't a problem, then control is, and the line between liberty and security is almost impossible to maintain forever. If socialization isn't a problem, then isolation is, and encouraging group interaction while preserving personal space is really tough. If efficiency isn't a problem, then bureaucracy is, and to quote the LawMeme essay, "Where online democracy does not yet exist, it will be necessary to invent it." And whenever there exists a way of exploiting the system for personal gain, someone will try it.
Thinking on these virtual worlds can be an incredibly instructive tool for understanding the functioning and development of human societies. Playing a game like "Civilization III" gives some understanding, but only if you buy into their particular historiography. But following the creation, birth, and development of a MMORPG actually lets you see civilization spring forth from nothing.
Plato and Aristotle would be green with envy: they toyed with creating the perfect state. Aristotle even gave it a whirl, churning out over a hundred constitutions for various cities. But neither of them had the chance to start absolutely from scratch and then tweak the system they created entirely out of their thought. But even with all that we've learned about politics in the past 2400 years, we still can't make utopia. The eudaimonia we all seek is just beyond our grasp, even in a truly abstract virtual environment.
We really do need the New Jerusalem. I'm still working on something about that, and I hope to have it concrete enough to write within the next few weeks.
